Support and holder for brooms, mops, and the like



May 30, 1933. O. p' WQLFE, JR 1,91L781 SUPPORT AND HOLDER FOR BROOMS, MOPS, AND THE LIKE Filed March 18, 1952 Invenor:

Patented May 30, 1933` UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE/f] lsurroivr HOLDER Fon BRooMs, Mors, AND THE LIKE i A Animation med-March 1s, 1932. serial No. 599,766.

Y' invention," relates Y to article "supports, particularly useful A in connectionA vwith such articles as; brooms,fmops,' shovels,and other articles havingfelongated handles'. "`5 f The -invention will fbe best understood fromfthe following description when read in the light of the accompanying drawing of onefembodiment of the invention, the/scope ofwhichl latter lwill be more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.'

In the drawingf-v v 'L -Fig. 1: is a plan' ofk an article holderconstructed accordinglto' the invention, Fig-2 is a'side'elevation off he article hold'- eracc'ording to Figfl'; l r

v Fig. 3 'shows a support for a broomor the like, which support includes thearticle holder illustratedby'Figs. land 2; and Fig. ais a section onthe line a-'l'of Fig. 3, withparts omitted. .l l

Referring to the drawing, the article holder 1 comprises a base. 3, which latter as `illustrated is in the form of an angle bracket preferably made of sheet metal. As shown, thefl'ange "5 of thisbra'clret'isprovided with perforations 7 for receiving screws or the like for attaching it to a support such as, for example, the wall 9 of a cabinet, closet, room, or other structure. Herein, the base 3 ofthe article holder carries a pair of arms 11, pivotally secured at 13 to the flange 15 of said base. Conveniently, these arms each comi prise the similar halves 17 placed at opposite sides respectively of the iiange 15 in 5 contacting relation therewith, so that the arms are securely supported for swinging movement in the p-lane of said flange.

As shown, the arms 11 at their outer ends carry rollers 19, which preferably are formed of rubber or other comparatively resilient material inoperative to scratch or cut kor otherwise mar the article, such as the broom handle H, engaged by said rollers. Pref- Y erably, the halves 17 of the arms are provided with portions 21 affording large areas of Contact with the opposite sides of the rollers so as to hold the latter against flexure. Conveniently, these portions 21 of the arms are ofset from the body of the arms so that the latter do not strike the handleH when thelatter is inserted between the arms as showninFigAf. v For urging the arms Atoward eachother, the present embodiment ofthe invention in# cludes a tension spring 23, which', at opposite ends, has hooked portions 25V extending between the halves 17 of 'the respective "arms and secured to the latter by `engagement with pins 27 carried at opposite ends thereof by said halves. Herein, the spring` 23 `is cov# ered by a iexible tube 29 formed preferably of rubber. As shown,'for normally holding the rollers 19 in spaced relation, under the force of the spring urging them toward each other, the flange Vl5`of the base 3 of thehold` er is. slotted near each of its outer end'por tions as indicated at 31, the part.` between said slots being bent downward, as indicated at 33, to'form stops for the arms.

The normal position; of the h is shown by Fig. 1. By'presenting thehandle of a broom o r the like'to the rollers, and pressing it thereagainst, the arms .11 .v'villb'eA spreadl apart to permitsaid'handle` toA between Jthem i while the handle remains j "in contact Vwith the rollers, 'the latter, due .to their rotary movement aboutytheir pivots, readily permitting thisoperation ,and cause ing the handle to snap into the spacejbef tween the "arms due to the fact that the latter urgesaid rollers towardeach other. The spring means,. which hereinl comprises fthe spring 23 and its c'over"29`V is so positioned that it is engaged by said handle, and'is'bent and stretched by the latter when engaged thereby.YV The spring means thus .acts resilii ently to urge the handlev against the rollers, and, becauseit is bent by the handle, acts to increase the force by which saidarm the rollers against the. handle. t

. The abovey described construction Yis lsuch that the handle maybe readily"ro-tatedrelaf tive tothe holder and without inarringthe lder y l press 9o surface of the handle. `This is of particular Y.

importance where the holder isused for supy porting brooms, because commonlylthebroom will not be .presented to theV holder 'with the plane of the broom head B parallel tothe whichsupports the holder, resulting,L as the broom' is inserted,lv in one'side of it striking the wall. Also when a row of holders is provided for supporting a plurality of brooms, it may be necessary, if the holders are placed close together, to rotate the brooms to hold their heads B at an angle to the wall to prevent each broom from contacting or interfering with the adjacent broom. Y

It will' be understood thatwide deviations may be made from the present embodiment of the invention without departing from the spiritthereof. k: g Y

I claim:

l. A holder for articles of the character described having, in combination, a base, a pair of rollers, spaced arms for supporting said rollers, saidarms being carried by saidbase for swinging movement toward and away from each other, and spring'means acting on saidarms to urge them toward each other, said spring means being so formed and positioned as to engage an article received between saidy arms for urging said article to ward said rollers. A p Y 2. A holder for varticles of the character describedhaving, in combination, a base, a pair of rollers spaced arms for supporting said rollers, said arms being carried by said baseV for 'swinging movement toward and away from each other, spring means acting onsaid arms to urge them toward each other, said spring means being so formed and positioned as to engage an article receivedV between said armsfor. urging said larticle toward said rollers, and stop means for cooperating with said arms 4for normally holding said rollers in spaced relation. j y 3. A holder orlarticles of the character described having,incombinationfa base, a pair.v of article engaging rollers, means gcarrying. said rollers for movement toward andV away from eachother comprisingV a pair Yof relatively movable roller supports carried by said base, a tension spring means connected at 'opposite ends thereof to said roller supports for urging themresiliently toward each pair ofarms, said arms each comprising parallel portions pivoted to said arm supporting portion at opposite sides of the latter respectively, said arms at their free endsbeing ofi"- set toward each other, rollers of comparatively resilient material pivotally carried by the offset portions of said arms, springmeans connected at' opposite ends thereof to said arms and bridging the space between them for urging said arms toward each other and Y for engaging the article and urging it toward said rollers, and stop means formed integrally with said base actingtonsaid arms for noreachV other. i

. 6. A holder for articlesof the character described having, in combination, a pair ofartimally holding said rollers out of contact with vcles engaging members, means forsupporting said members for movement toward and away fromeach 4other, V 4 urge said members toward each other, the last mentioned means havingia portion so formed and positioned as to engage an article placed, between said members for urging the article into contact with said members. 1

7. A holder for articles ofthe character described having, in combination, a base, means comprising a pair of'arms mounted Von said base forA swinging movement and having placed between said arms and to be tensioned by said article. v

.In testimony whereof, Ihave signed my name to this specification. 1

. oLivEn ru., woLFE, `rJR; f

other, said spring means being so formed `and i 'I positionedas to engage with thearticle engaged by said rollers for urging said article resiliently,towardsaid rollers. j

4. A Vholder forV articles of the. character described having, in combination,` a base, a pairof article engaging rollers, means carrying said. rollers for movement toward and away from.I each other comprising a pairl of relatively movable roller-supports carriedby said base, a tension spring connectedfat opposite ends thereof to said roller supports for ,urgingY them resiliently toward eachother, said spring carrying a part so ormed and positioned as to engage with the article-engaged by said rollers for urging said article toward said rollers. Y f

3 5. AA holderv for articles, of the character described having,in combination, a base having a relatively thin' arm ,supporting portion, a

means; acting resiliently to .3

parts at the ends of said arms for engaging i 

